The sound design for Sam Shepard’s variations of Oedipus, A Particle of Dread, directed by J. Daniel Herring, included many sounds of dripping and swishing water and blood layered with music that increased suspense and foreshadowed the imminent doom that was the fulfillment of the prophesy.  As the audience entered the theatre, they were not welcomed with the usual soundtrack of carefully crafted music the set the mood for the show, but rather the sound of dripping, played at a low level.

 

 

The sound set a definite mood, but many of the effects were more practical in nature.  For instance, in one scene a character wrings out bloody skins he is cleaning in a bucket of water.  Since real water was not used, I set a speaker just above the bucket and created the sounds of the water that were timed perfectly to the actor’s movements.  At one point he even throws a flask in the bucket.

 

Another sound that was called for was something to set the scene on a deserted highway.

 

There were an assortment of other sounds: a baby cooing and then crying, a film flicker, a music box, a smoke alarm, and even the sound of a neck snapping as a result of hanging.

 

However, the strength in this design was the music that set the tone and mood throughout the play.